Don't Miss The Jimmy Heath Big Band at the Kingston, New York Jazz Festival this weekend!

All events and concerts are FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go to this link below for further details..........

http://www.kingstonjazzfestival.com/index.html

Free Party!!!!!!!!!!! Samba, Pagode, MPB, Forro and World Beat! LIVE MUSIC with Saveiro!

Hotel QT 125 West 45th Street New York City All Starts at 7 pm Thursday June 28th.

See you there!

The first dance gets underway where the arriving crowd joins-in on this 22nd of June at the Swedish Mid-Summer Event in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan in New York City.

Swedish Mid-Summer Activities on tap and currently underway in the Big Apple. Here a Live band performs Clear skies, a lovely location with equally lovely weather, brought a calm multi-aged and multi racial crowd to a major Swedish event that is growing in popularity here in New York and in some cities in the U.S. Here the crowd begins to build this 22nd of June at the Swedish Mid-Summer Event in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan in New York City

Clear skies, a lovely location with equally lovely weather, brought a calm multi-aged and multi racial crowd to a major Swedish event that is growing in popularity here in New York and in some cities in the U.S. Here the crowd begins to build this 22nd of June at the Swedish Mid-Summer Event in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan in New York City

Cultural, Racial, ethnic diversity with fun in mind, at a relaxed family atmosphere was the order of the day at the Swedish Mid-Summer Event in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan in New York City.

Summer is Here! Summer is Here! Summer is Here! Summer is Here! Summer is Here!

The crowd slowly gathering at the Swedish Mid-Summer Event in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan in New York City.

The making of new friends and greeting of old at the Swedish Mid-Summer Event in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan in New York City.

LIVE MUSIC with the view of New York Harbor to the south at the Swedish Mid-Summer Event in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan in New York City.

Dancing around the cross of Summer at the Swedish Mid-Summer Event in Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan in New York City

Be sure not to miss the Summer Solstice and Swedish Mid-Summer Events around town this week. Read below visit our sister Blog site, Jazz and World Beat at International Access Networks, for further details............

The American-Scandinavian Foundation, in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York , presents the Norwegian jazz trio In the Country, which consists of Morten Qvenild (grand piano), Roger Arntzen (double bass), and Pål Hausken (drums). Qvenild is probably best known for being the orchestra in Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, but he has also been a member of Shining, Jaga Jazzist, and Solveig Slettahjell’s Slow Motion Orchestra. Since he formed In the Country with fellow students Arntzen and Hausken at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Olso in 2003, they have been named best young jazz artists in Norway, played concerts in Europe and the U.S., and released their debut album, “This Was the Pace of My Heartbeat” (Rune Grammofon, 2005) to much acclaim. Critics have called the album “startling” (Mojo), “fantastic” (Straight No Chaser), and “one of the finest and most arresting albums to come out of Europe ” (Downbeat). “Translucent intimacy, wry morbidity and an abiding faith in the power of crescendo: these are the basic tools of In the Country….The group has a dual attraction to unabashed prettiness and shadowy drama,” writes critic Nate Chinen in a New York Times review of their newest album, “Losing Stones, Collecting Bones” (Rune Grammofon, 2006). This album features 11 brand new Qvenild originals recorded in the legendary Atlantis Studio in Stockholm , home of the first classic ABBA recordings. For more information, visit www.inthecountry.no/links.html or www.myspace.com/inthecountrytrio. Concert in Victor Borge Hall to be followed by a reception on Scandinavia House’s outdoor garden terrace.

Victor Borge Hall

Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America

58 Park Avenue @ 38^th Street

New York, NY 10016

Concert reservations: (212) 847-9740

General information: (212) 879-9779

www.scandinaviahouse.org

Don't Miss this FREEBIE in Lower Manhattan with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Spectacular Target Fireworks Show!!!! At the South Street Seaport, beginning at 8 pm and the Fireworks Display at 9:30 pm sharp. The South Street Seaport is one venue to gaze at the show. The other vistas are around Lower Manhattan and across the East River in Brooklyn Heights and under the Brooklyn Bridge. See you there!

A New Face on the Music Scene who will likely make his way stateside in a short time. He's Chris Gudu and We REALLY LIKE the sound of this new artist who has something to say. Do take a moment and scroll down below, hit his web site and give his sound a listen. All we can say is enjoy!!!!!!

We are very pleased to announce the launch of Chris Gudu's website. Please visit us at www.chrisgudu.com

We would be very pleased for you to listen to some of Chris Gudu's songs from the brand new album 'Bavimbeni' and let us know what you think by dropping us a line via the prompt in the website. Your comments on the website will also be most welcome.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your wonderful support and we look forward to seeing you at our shows.

You can see Chris Gudu perform some of the tracks from the Bavimbeni album live at the forthcoming Sydney MusicFest at The Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Road , Enmore, Sydney on Thursday 21^st June.

More show dates listed on the website.

Kind regards,

Alison

ALISON DONAGH
Artist Manager for Chris Gudu
Tel.: 0412 399 505
International callers: 61 412 399 505
Email: alison@chrisgudu.com
Website: www.chrisgudu.com

The front and the back of the Album / CD RHYTHM OF THE BRAVE

First Saturdays in Brooklyn at the GroundWork Community Playground at P.S. 328. It is located at 330 Alabama Avenue. Here, The Caribbean Comes to East New York. Hear music and see dance from that part of the world, from nations such as Cuba, Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. The GroundWork Community Center along with the Caribbean Cultural Center and African Diaspora Institute provide a truly family oriented afternoon of fun, with story telling, Arts and Crafts and insight during the Summer months. For information on First Saturdays call: 1-718-346-2200 Extension #108 and 1-212-307-7420 Extension #3005 for Further details. It all begins at 11:30 am and events at set for July 7th and August 4th

This was an incredible Harlem event that drew attention to the plight of millions in the African nation of The Sudan. Sweet Honey in the Rock performed and was the highlight of a magical and important evening at the famous and historical Caanan Baptist Church on Wednesday, the 13th of June. One of several important events taking place in the New York area this June.....

Details below and on our sister Blog..... Jazz and World Beat at International Access.

Come join Nordic Nights for its annual Swedish Midsummer Party in New York and
help us celebrate the summer solstice. Like last year, we bring together the
best Scandinavian party planners NYC has to offer.

Nordic Nights is teaming up with InternationalSwede and Mania Events to make this the ultimate Scandinavian extravaganza.

This is the ONLY authentic Swedish Midsummer party in NYC. By Scandinavians,
for Scandinavians (and their friends, of course : )

Special Performance by by Swedish singer and song writer Uno Svenningsson (maybe more to follow)

Thanks to our sponsors:

http://www.swedishsnus.com

http://www.rogersmith.com

http://www.nordicreach.com

Look for this MAJOR Swedish Mid-Summer PARTY on Friday, June 22nd, in Lower Manhattan. Do check out www.swedeninnewyork.com for further details.

Don't miss this new annual international and now, New York Swedish event, with a major Summer festival in for families in Battery Park City at Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park inside that complex and, later that night, a major party in Lower Manhattan on the evening of the kick-off to the Summer Season. Do visit one of the following web sites for further details...

www.swedeninnewyork.com and http://www.swedishmidsummerparty.com/

www.nycmidsummer.com and www.bpcparks.org or Call 1-212-267-9700

There is also the Roger Smith Hotel in Mid-Town Manhattan.... FOR Further details and tickets.


Don't miss it!!!!

A lot of events getting underway in and around New York City this Summer Season. Below please find a partial listing of events we support and where you will likely see the I-A-N team attend in the coming days, weeks and months. Hit us back with your thoughts.....

Brazilian Pool Party and jam sessions coming up as the Music and Jazz Festival season HEATS UP in The Big Apple.... For more information do check out www.myspace.com/aguanyc about this and other events around town this season. Stay tuned for more information here as it becomes available.

Coming to New York in Mid-June. Do check out www.blackandmaleinamerica.org for deatils of this special program. Not to be missed!

For more information go to: www.loumyers.com or call 1-310-649-6623

This happens in New York City on Friday, June 22nd in Battery Park City, in Lower Manhattan. Call 1-212-267-9700 or www.swedeninnewyork.com for further details.....

Don't miss this special Summer-long Jazz program in New York City as part of the JVC Jazz Festival. Call 1-212-665-5313 fie more information.

Daoud David Williams with Jazz Saxophonist, Don Braden at the International Association for Jazz Education (I-A-J-E) conference in New York, January 2007.... This is a partial look back on how this year was kicked-off with Jazz music and a celebration and the I-A-J-E conference. One of the highlights of the year thus far.... Be sure to visit our sister Blog listed here for further details and highlights of other events. Do check out our sister blog here: http://jazzworldbeatatinternationalaccessnet.blogspot.com/

The Sonny Carson Controversy Continues into the New Week....

Comrie Denounces Hate Postings On Police Blog

There appears to be further fallout from the controversy surrounding the call for a street re-naming for the controversial figure, Sonny Carson. Carson was no friend of the New York Police Department and, from the perspective of those in New York law enforcement circles, the feeling was mutual. Yet, one backer of the street re-naming measure was the Brooklyn City Councilman Charles Barron (D-42th District) who has become a target of some segments inside the police department within recent days. Leroy Comrie and Barron have been at odds since the fallout of the Carson street re- naming snafu. So, for the record, here is the latest Politics does make strange bedfellows...

NEW YORK, NY- Councilmember Leroy Comrie (D-27th District) issued the following statement today regarding the news that the organization 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement who Care called for an investigation into the internet blog known as “NYPD Rant”, which had postings which questioned the sexuality of and directed several death threats toward Councilmember Charles Barron:

“I want to join the members of 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement today in denouncing the heinous postings on the NYPD Rant website about my Council colleague, Charles Barron. There is no place in our society today for death threats against public officials, much less anyone else. To tolerate such actions is a threat to the foundation of our democracy. And to remain silent in the face of such hate is unacceptable. Whether you agree with Councilmember Barron or not, there is no place for threats of violence in our public discourse and I want to encourage all my colleagues in public office to speak out on this issue.”

To see for yourself the clash inside New York's City Council last week and, the fallout one week later that led to the above police Internet incident of death threats against an elected official, visit this site listed below.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2239767169994895886&pr=goog-sl

There are other comments about the recent City Council Stated Meeting that exploded into controversy last Thursday. To read more about the Sonny Carson snafu and, to see video of that controversy and fight inside the Council Chambers, do check out this link listed below here. This comes courtesy of reporter Rafael Martinez Alequin....

http://www.yourfreepress.blogspot.com/

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY

SONNY CARSON STREET NAME CHANGE FIGHT ESCALATES
(Is this really worth it with so much at stake?)

by Eric K. Williams

The fight over a street re-naming in Brooklyn, reached a fever pitch Wednesday, and may have now led to death threats against a New York elected official following one of the most racially charged votes by city lawmakers in years. The target is Leroi Comrie, (pictured above on the left, and below with commedian Bill Cosby) a Queens City Councilman, who was one of seven members who abstained from voting to place the name of the late Sonny Carson among 50 names, in a council omnibus bill of street name changes.

(City Councilman, Leroi Comrie with comedian Bill Cosby on the 'N' word Fight in Feb. '07)

Carson, who died at age 66 in late 2002, was a controversial leader among New York's diverse Black Leadership. In an activist career that spanned the better part of 39 years, Robert Sonny Abubadika Carson has stirred passions. Some call him a villain, racial arsonist and a racist. While others have annoited him to near sainthood, on a par with Malcolm X. Historians have noted that Carson was a key figure in helping to keep New York calm, while other major American cities like Washington, Detroit, Los Angeles and Newark, New Jersey, exploded in race riots and civil unrest in the 1960's. In 1969, then Mayor John V. Lindsey, cited meetings with Carson during the aftermath of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. with keeping the Big Apple cool.

Those same historians also cite controversial and racist statements uttered by Carson during the racially-charged New York teacher's strike of 1968, and more recently, in the 1990's, that have stuck in the public consciousness. In 1990, during a Carson-led boycott of one Korean grocery store, he had reportedly told Black Brooklynites to "not shop with people who do not look like us." Those who did cross the picket line were reportedly spat on by Carson backers. In 1991, Carson reportedly hailed the Crowd Heights lynch mob responsible for the death of Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting Hasidic scholar from Australia. Carson was quoted as "being very proud" of what had happened. The Carson brouhaha over the street renaming reignited those memories of the 1990's during one of New York's most intense periods of racial tension.

The City Council measure was voted down along racial lines, with 25 mostly white councilmembers voting to prevent Carson's name from being added to the list, while just 15 councilmembers who voted yes thought it should. Hours after the noisy and tension-filled vote, Comrie was given additional police protection after another councilmember's top aide had alledgedly called for the end of his career-- even "if it takes an assassination of his ass." Strong words and deep passion, indeed.

That quote comes from Viola Plummer (pictured above,) who is Chief of Staff for Councilman Charles Barron, a Brooklyn Democrat. Plummer, Barron and community activists, led by the Brooklyn-based December 12th Movement, had been strong backers of the Carson proposal. Plummer and supporters were apparently frustrated by the seven councilmebers who had abstained in the tension-filled vote. The reason? All seven, including Comrie, belonged to the Council's 25-member Black, Latino and Asian Caucus. As strong as the Carson backers were in calling for the name change, the Carson proposal was equally opposed in recent days by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and weeks earlier, Christine Quinn, the City Council Speaker.

Of note, there were also four members who skipped the Wednesday vote entirely. The Carson street naming battle, as symbolic as it is, was dead-in-the-water from the git-go. Even if the seven who abstained had voted yes, and those four who did not attend, had voted along with the 'YES 15,' turning the final tally to 26 votes, one over the 25 who had voted no, Mayor Bloomberg would have vetoed the measure as soon as it crossed his desk. He had made it clear earlier in the week, with public statements criticizing the late Carson that were covered widely in the mainstream press.

This writer is in no way making the claim of being a City Hall insider. Yet, since covering City Politics for Pacifica Radio's WBAI-FM, WBLS-FM 107.5, WOR-AM 710, Metro Networks, WLIB-AM 1190, WNYC radio and, the A.U.R.N., Wednesday's vote was loud, emotional and extraordinary. City Council Stated Meetings, where bills are passed into city law, are mostly mundane and, rarely lively affairs. As such, at least under the leadership of Councilwoman Quinn, the City's lawmakers usually vote in a lockstep manner. To my eyes, in what is arguably one of New York State's most racially diverse lawmaking bodies, the Wednesday vote was one of the most emotionally and, racially charged events in years. Passion ran deep on both sides. Community Activists in New York's largest borough, had gathered over ten thousand signatures from inside the 39th Councilmanic District to bring the matter this far. This initiative was fostered by the December 12th Movement, the group Carson headed until his death.

What may be the fallout from the Wednesday vote are fissures, and cracks in the government institution that may not be repairable. The splits, fissures and fractures are already being seen with the recent quotes attributed to Viola Plummer. I had covered the vote on Wednesday and afterwards, had went outside with the crowd that had made so much ruckus to hear their reaction to their defeat on this measure.

( Sonny Carson in 2000. Brooklyn, New York )

"If it takes an assassination of his ass, he will not be borough president of the borough in which I live," Plummer had reportedly said outside City Hall, according to the politiker dot com Web Site. I was there but didn't hear her say that. Plummer was clearly angry over the vote that was doomed from the outset. But, for her to suggest that Comrie is some kind of sellout to Black New Yorkers, or even an Uncle Tom, because of his decision not to vote the way she would have prefered, is a bit of a stretch.

Plummer and Carson were close over the years. Some say that they were romantically linked which may partly explain her passion for the cause and disappointment to those opposed.

Leroi Comrie, who is considered a gentlemanly and mild-mannered lawmaker, has been in the forefront on many issues important to all people of the city and, to those of African Descent in particular. He had led what he called a 'common sense effort' in raising awareness about the use of the 'N' word among the city's youth. Yet, the verbal attacks on Comrie in my view are unfair on his vote last Wednesday.

(Leroi Comrie at a City Hall news conference, taking a question from the Executive Director)

The Queens Councilman, who may very well become a candidate in the upcoming Borough President's race in 2009, issued the following statement on Friday regarding the ongoing controversy surrounding the Sonny Carson street re-naming efforts. In it, he took aim at Plummer and, her subsequent assassination remarks directed toward him:

“I was disheartened to see the New York City Council torn apart on the issue of the Sonny Carson street renaming. While I am confident that this body will endure, I am disturbed by the apparent failure to reach a consensus on this issue. Even moreso, divisive and repugnant remarks by members and staffers of this body, during and after the Stated meeting, is an issue that must be addressed.

“Threats of assassination made by Viola Plummer, chief of staff to Councilmember Charles Barron, clearly crossed the line. And the reckless remarks by Ms. Plummer, as an employee of the City of New York, cannot be tolerated and it is my opinion that she should be fired immediately. Considering the recent history of this Council, the word ‘assassination’ clearly evokes painful memories of our late colleague James Davis.

"While I personally did not seek any protection, a security detail was provided to me in the hours after Ms. Plummer’s remarks, at the behest of Council security. It was removed at the end of the day and I have not sought to have any protection otherwise. However, I have a responsibility to my family and my staff members to take this matter seriously. Copycats and small-minded people will hear what Ms. Plummer stated and remember the one incendiary word. History is full of examples where irresponsible people used such incendiary rhetoric which resulted in harm to and even the death of others, such as the case of Malcolm X. It is why I have taken the position that Ms. Plummer’s employment in the City Council should come to end.

“While I am not surprised that my colleague, Charles Barron, would defend Ms. Plummer and her heinous remarks, I am calling upon the Speaker and other members of this body to join me in publicly censuring Viola Plummer and calling for her termination forthwith."

Finally, Geoffrey A. Davis, brother of the late Brooklyn Councilmember James E. Davis has weighed in on this matter. In the Summer of 2003 Davis' brother was murdered, shot to death, inside City Hall during a Stated Meeting. Speaking to reporters he had said, "For her to have uttered such a statement only yards away from where my brother, the late Hon. James E. Davis, was murdered is heartbreaking. Our community leaders have a responsibility to the people that elected them to act in a more sensible and loving manner. It is my hope that my friend, Charles Barron, can explain to my family and I how Ms. Plummer’s use of the word ‘assassination’ in City Hall can be justified.” Good question....

So, in this writer's view, the fallout from the Sonny Carson street renaming fight has been blown all out of proportion. The renaming of four Blocks along Gates Avenue in Brooklyn, to Sonny Carson Way, would not have brought about revolutionary change in New York. It would not have fostered better education for the City's youth, created affordable housing to the working class, nor brought about safer streets for the city's residents. It is, at best, symbolism of a questionable and, controversial New York character who made a mark on the city, for better or worse. Many so-called 'respectable' leaders and public persons, including activist leaders such as the Reverends Herbert Daughtry and Conrad Tillard, had supported the call for the street name change. Such voices did add to the mix of what should have been a calmer and, more level-headed discussion over the Carson legacy.

I had met Sonny Carson over the years numerous times but, never socially. Those meetings were always on a professional level as interviewer and subject. I don't know what it was like to walk in his shoes but, his life did touch hundreds in ways that did make a positive difference to the city as well. While I may have had disagreements with him on a number of public stances on controversial subjects, those disagreements did get me to think and look at my own life. Other times and other issues surrounding Sonny Carson not only raised my eyebrows but, at times, did bring me to the point of revulsion. Such as, what were the issues surrounding his 1974 conviction in a kidnapping case that led to the murder of one of the kidnapped people in that strange and twisted case? The book and movie bearing the same title "THE EDUCATION OF SONNY CARSON," gives some insight. Somehow, I get the feeling this subject is not quite dead yet. The same kind of revulsion extended to Sonny Carson on Wednesday, it could be argued, was not unlike that extended to Malcolm X in the early years following his death. Today, there are schools, by-ways, a street in Harlem and, a U.S. Postage stamp bearing his name and image. That was unthinkable in 1969, four years after his death. With that I get the feeling, once the heat and passion cools from these past days, that we will hear of other Carson initiatives. I do not support the dismissle of Viola Plummer from her job as an aide to Council member Barron. Yet, Ms. Plummer should learn to cool her jets, regroup and, pick up the pieces when an event has results not to her liking. Also, we have not heard the last of the December 12th Movement, on this subject, either. Stay tuned....